Based on John 4:31-42 (New King James Version)
“In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, eat.’ But He said to them, ‘I have food to eat of which you do not know.’ Therefore the disciples said to one another, ‘Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.’ And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.’”
Why did the Lord come to world? What was His purpose? I think we all know why: to save us from our sins and to transform our lives. Throughout the Lord’s entire physical life, we can see that this was His focus. We could see His intention in everything He was doing. His dedication was such that He compared the sustenance of His body to doing the will of His Father. His food was to do the Father’s will, and to finish His work. Throughout His ministry, He shared about His Father. He spoke about the kingdom and how to enter it. He taught us how we should live. And as we also read and know; He fed the hungry. He freed the demon-possessed. He healed the sick. And He even raised the dead. Everything He did His whole life, and until His death and resurrection, was (and is) with the purpose to save us and transform us. But, what other purpose does salvation, in addition to having eternal life? A purpose that is just as great!
Everything the Lord did (and does and wants to continue doing) with our lives is so that we can continue perpetuating an incredible movement; that others may come to be saved and transformed until the time of the dispensation of God’s grace ends. God has given a timeframe so that people can come to salvation. We don’t have a clue on how long this will be, but we know through the Scriptures that there is a determined period of time that only God the Father knows about. That’s why the Word encourages us to seek for God while He can still be found. But the moment will come when mankind cannot be saved. But until then, the Good News of Salvation must continue being spread to every human being; to every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, for as much time remains, because that’s how we got here.
The Gospel entered my life many years ago (over 36 years ago), through a person that was a complete stranger to me back then. And the person that shared the Gospel with me was also ministered to by someone else, and so on. And if we drew a line, the start of the origin of my salvation would reach of course the Lord Himself, but also, it would pass through one of the apostles or another disciple of the Lord. But, one of those people that was around the Lord Himself was the precursor of my salvation; someone that at some point heard, believed, was saved, and felt compelled to share their faith with the world that surrounded them. And of course, all the work is of the Lord through His Holy Spirit. But, God used some human being that was touched and transformed by the Lord Himself.
For example, Paul is the one that is attributed with giving us the opportunity as gentiles (those of us that do not come from Israel). Paul was known as the apostle for the gentiles. God used him to travel throughout much of the known world at the time, to preach about the Lord’s salvation to different nations. But we also read that Peter was used in the life of Cornelius, a centurion in the Italian Regiment of the Roman Empire. Cornelius was a roman. And we read in Acts 10 that Cornelius and a large group of people that were with him that came to be saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. The point is that someone centuries ago was touched by the Lord and others became part of the chain. And as the chain grew through the centuries, I have to think on everything that must have happened so that the Gospel could reach me; the sacrifice, the pain, the effort, the commitment, faithfulness, etc. of so many faithful brethren that were before me. And through me, by sharing my faith with others, that touch of the Almighty continues with other people, other generations, until the determined time is fulfilled. And of course, I can’t just think about the chain that was formed so that I could be saved, but also, the other chains that were formed so that I could receive the Lord’s Word through other people all of these years which has helped me grow and remain faithful until now. Have you ever thought about the incredible process that started with the Lord and has continued through the centuries so that you could have the opportunity of being saved and transformed by the Lord?
So then, if we understand that, then we understand how important it is to share our faith with others, but of course, if we have truly been saved and transformed by the Lord. Because, how can something be spoken of if this has no real meaning in the life of a person? If the Lord does not mean much to you, nor what He has done through the ages for you, then, of course, there can be no inspiration. But, if you have experienced the true touch of the Lord in your life, if He has transformed you and made you a new person, then you have much to talk about and share. In the end, we cannot be selfish with the Lord, or fearful either. We must fulfill God’s purpose which many faithful people before us understood; that others must come to the Lord, or at the very least, give them the opportunity to receive something. Now, if they listen or not, that is not your problem. What matters is that you understand what God has done for you, and that you share Him with others that were just as lost as you once were before; without hope and without faith.
So, first of all, have you come to know the Lord personally and intimately? And if that has happened, do you value all the effort it took so you could have Him? And if you have understood, are you talking about Jesus to other people that also need to be saved and transformed? Lord bless! John